Pancake Day / Užgavėnės

It's Shrove Tuesday or Fat Pancake Day or in other words there are seven weeks left until Easter. As tradition follows we eat seven times a lot of pancakes with different fillings. Today a friend and her lovely son visited us with traditional Shrove Tuesday mask, that is meant to scare the winter, and traditional songs. She always amazes me with her perfect memory for music and lyrics. I wish I could remember at least half of the songs that I was taught at school.

And now the pancakes. They all are traditional Lithuanian or inspired by Lithuanian cuisine - plain Potato pancakes, Chicken stuffed crepes, cheese and spinach stuffed crepes, and small pancakes with strained yogurt, walnut and beetroot and apple relish!

Mini pancakes with yogurt and beetroot topping

( serves 5-6)

What you need:

250ml flour

200 ml milk

1 egg

1 tbsp butter, melted

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp baking powder

beetroot relish:

3 boiled beetroots

1 large apple

1 onion

60 ml balsamic vinegar

50 ml olive oil

4 tbsp sugar

salt to taste

black pepper to taste

1 tsp black mustard seeds

yogurt sauce:

3 tbsp strained yogurt

3 walnuts

a few branches of dill and parsley

salt and black pepper

What you have to do:

In a bowl mix flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, then add an egg and milk. Whisk until smooth batter, then add melted butter. Mix to combine. Leave the batter for 30 min.

Preheat your non-stick pan and use a tablespoon to make pancakes. Bake for 1-2 min on one side until you see bubbles forming, turn it upside down. Bake until the other side is golden brown. Set them aside.

Make beetroot relish. Finely chop onion and grate the apple. In a put add the onions, apple and olive oil. Cook for 3-4 minutes until onions starts to get soft. Grate beetroots and add them in a pot together with balsamic vinegar, sugar, salt and black pepper, mustard seeds. Stir well and cook on a low heat for 10 minutes. Then you can put the relish into a jar and keep it in the fridge until you need it.

Take the pancakes, top them with some yogurt sauce and then with some beetroot relish.

Potato pancakes

( serves 2-3)

What you need:

5 medium potatoes

1 small onion

1 egg

salt and black pepper to taste

oil for frying

What you have to do:

Peel and wash potatoes. Grate them with the finest grater you have. Peel and finely chop the onion. Add it to the bowl with potatoes. Add the egg, salt and black pepper. Mix it well.

Preheat the pan with some oil and use a spoon to put pancakes into the pan. Fry until the sides start to turn brown. Turn them upside down and continue cooking until it is golden brown. Serve warm with sourcream or yogurt.

Stuffed crepes

( serves 5-6)

What you need:

200g flour

a pinch of sugar

a pinch of salt

2 eggs

about 500ml milk

1 tsp of oil

melted butter for frying

filling 1:

2 boiled or roasted chicken breast halves

1 large onion

2 large carrots

1/2 tsp carraway seeds

salt and pepper to taste

sunflower oil

a small handful of dill

filling 2

200g spinach

1 onion

1 clove of garlic

oil

50g cheese

salt and black pepper to taste

What you have to do:

In a bowl mix flour with sugar and salt. Make a well in the middle and add the eggs and half of the milk and oil. Whisk until everything is combined and then gradually add the rest of the milk. Do not overmix as it may make the crepes rubbery. Cover the bowl and leave them in the fridge for a few hours or overnight.

Preheat a pan ( 15 or 18cm) and lightly brush it with butter. Mix the batter again and pour 60 ml into a pan. Move the pan around so the batter covers the bottom. Fry one one side for 1 minute. Then loosen the sides with a spatula and turn the pancake upside down. Cook for 1 more minute and then slide it onto a plate. Repeat with the rest of the batter.

Prepare the fillings. For the chicken filling, finely chop the chicken, peeled onion, grate carrot. In a pan preheat some oil and add the onion and carrot. Cook for about 10 minutes until vegetables are soft, season well with salt and black pepper, add carraway seeds and chopped chicken. Stir well. Remove from the heat and add chopped dill. Stir and cool.

For the spinach filling, chop the onion and garlic. Preheat the pan and sautee onions and garlic. Season with salt and pepper. Then add spinach. Stir and cook for 2 more minutes and remove from heat. Cut cheese in stripes.

I usually add chicken on one side and roll into a tube. When making spinach and cheese filling, I fold the sides so the cheese wouldn't ooze out.

Fry wrapped crepes in a pan with some oil until golden brown on each side. Serve warm with sourcream or yogurt.